Jenazah,
I was certified in Monterey, and I just did a pair of dives at Catalina last week, so I can add a tiny bit.
I like MaxBottomTime's comment about splashing paint. That is one of the things that differentiate Monterey from most places; the colors and variety. Carpets of brilliant strawberry anemones covering rocks, odd blue rocks and myriads of other colors abound. I second the comment above that a dive light is a must! The colors jump at you when you light 'em up.
My buddy and I believe that the key to Monterey diving is to get "up close and personal". We can spend an entire dive covering an area no bigger than a normal house, exploring cracks and crevasses, and walls covered with life. Finding small decorator crabs and tiny shrimp that get missed by divers cruising past is excellent.
I only saw one starfish on two dives at Catalina. I don't know how normal that is. It is highly likely that you will see lots of starfish on most dives in Monterey. If you see any of the huge gray Sun Starfish, you have got to shine a bright light on them. They go from a dull gray to an amazing reddish that seems to glow from the inside out.
I have never seen a Garibaldi in the Monterey area, but there were lots of them everywhere at Long Point and Henrock last Friday. Again, I can only compare a few locations at each place, but those are my experiences.
The crabs I saw last week were by far the biggest I have seen. I am sure that there are big ones in Monterey, but I have never seen any as big as the dozen we saw at Avalon.
I have always been told that it is about 5 degrees warmer in SoCal than Monterey. In Monterey the water is generally a little warmer in the winter months. My coldest Monterey dives were 48 degrees in May 2003. Dives I have done in August averaged about 51 - 52 degrees. Of course it varies with conditions, locations etc. I only mention those numbers as a point of reference.
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Dive Boats:
There are several dive boats out of Monterey (looking for the handy link), some large cattle style, some smaller 6-pack style.
I have dove from the Monterey Express several times, and it is similar to the experience I had with Catalina Divers Supply in Avalon. It is a 42 foot, 20 diver cattle boat, but the crew is good and they will try to find good locations down towards Carmel / Pt Lobos usually.
http://www.montereyexpress.com/
I have never dove the Cypress Express, but I have heard good things about it. However it is a large cattle boat also. 50 foot, 22 divers
http://www.cypresscharters.com/
The Escapade is a slightly smaller boat at 38 feet, but can carry 24 divers. I don't know anything about this boat, but you could search the archives for comments about all three.
http://www.divecentral.com/
Hope that helps,
(I know there is a great web page that lists a whole variety of California dive boats, but I don't have that link here. Someone must know it!)
Wristshot
